Ever thought of enjoying Vegetarian Hot Pot at home?
Making it in the Instant Pot eliminates the need to use any specialized equipment. Plus, a great way to enjoy a wholesome soup with family and friends.
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As the weather cools down we love to dive into healthy and nutritious soups for dinner. While these are great for dinner, we often like something more filling for lunch. And that is when this Vegetarian Hot Pot steps in.
While this used to be a restaurant only experience for us, we now enjoy the same at home. And that too, without any special equipment thanks to the Instant Pot.
What is Hot Pot
A popular Asian recipe, Hot Pot is a broth based dish. It consists of a large bowl of broth placed in the center of the table on a gas and is surrounded by raw ingredients to cook in the broth.
Hot Pot is more of an experience than a recipe. And it definitely has a special spot on Lunar New Year!
The pot of soup is boiled and enjoyed as a broth. Then the raw ingredients like vegetables, proteins, noodles etc. are added and cooked in the broth. Large skewers or slotted spoons help remove all the cooked ingredients into individual bowls.
These vegetables and proteins can be dipped into dipping sauces like sesame oil, minced garlic, scallions, peanut sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce etc.
Why this recipe works
- Traditionally Hot Pot is made using a wide pan on a gas stove or hot plate. Often times it may not work to buy a special equipment for a single recipe. So making it in the Instant Pot is an easy way to enjoy it at home.
- This Vegetarian Hot Pot is super customizable and easy to make. With minimum time in prepping the ingredients; the entire meal can be cooked from start to finish while enjoying it.
- Given that the table is full of different kinds of proteins, vegetables and noodles; each person is sure to find something they enjoy. And as each person gets to pick what they like, everyone will be happy!
- In case there are leftovers, they can be reused the same way using the Instant Pot. All we need is raw vegetables, tofu and noodles to add in.
Ingredients- Notes and Substitutions
- Soup Base: Store bought mix is the starting point for this recipe. I like to use the Little Sheep Hot Soup base for this recipe. It comes as a packet with four tiny packets filled with red chili, a powdered mix, chili oil and spices. Plus, I add some scallions and whole garlic to flavor the broth.
- Protein: As a vegetarian, we love adding tofu to the soup. Fried tofu pods, soft tofu and sometimes even bean curd knots make their way into the broth. Pick the protein you like but be aware that super soft tofu will disintegrate and disappear in the broth.
- Vegetables: Next are the veggies. I love broccoli in my hot pot. So I always add a ton of it. Besides, mushrooms of different kinds, lettuce, Napa cabbage and bok choy work well too.
- Noodles: I have added regular dry noodles and ramen to the soup. I mix and match these as per availability.
While I use a store bought mix that is spicy, there are various options to use a mushroom base, tomato base or a non-spicy version.
Besides, there are several recipes to make the broth from scratch. These work too.
More vegetables that can be added in the vegetarian hot pot. This includes corn, spinach, taro, pumpkin, potato, enoki mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms.
Pro Tip: do not add vegetables that clump together or get soggy when cooked. These ruin the hot pot experience.
Adding different kinds of noodles like udon, glass noodles or rice noodles works well too.
See the recipe card for detailed ingredient information, measurements and nutrition.
How to make this recipe in the Instant Pot
1- Set the Instant Pot to 'Sauté' and Normal. Add two cups of water. Also add whole garlic cloves and scallions. Also prepare all the vegetables by washing, draining and chopping as required.
2- Then add all the ingredients from the soup base mix to the instant pot base.
3- Stir well. Add the remaining four cups water and bring everything to a rolling boil.
4- Next add all the proteins and noodles.
5- Add the vegetables and let them cook for 7-8 minutes; till the tofu is cooked and noodles are soft.
Pro Tip: Regulate the temperature if needed by switching from 'sauté' to 'keep warm'.
6- As and when the ingredients are cooked; remove using a slotted spoon. Also pour in some soup with a ladle and enjoy with a dipping sauce or topped with minced garlic and scallions.
Expert Tips and Notes
- The soup is really like a plain canvas. Flavor it with your favorite add-ins like ginger, scallions, onions, chili etc. This makes the broth great to sip on as well as great to dip the vegetables etc.
- While we stick to a few vegetables and tofu in the recipe; feel free to add udon noodles, bean curd knots, sheets, corn, spinach, Napa cabbage etc.
- Ensure that any ingredient is added only after the hot pot is boiling. Dunking things into lukewarm broth will not cook them well.
- If the soup starts to taste super salty after a couple batches, add some more water to balance the flavors. Let the mix come to a boil before adding any more ingredients to cook.
- Each ingredient has a different time of cooking so add and remove the ingredients accordingly.
- Hot pot is a community activity and it is best enjoyed with family and friends with some delicious drinks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hot Pot is an Asian food experience where a large pot of soup is boiling in the middle of the table with various raw ingredients like tofu, vegetables and noodles are placed around it. The ingredients are cooked in batches and enjoyed with dipping sauces.
Hot pot is essentially a mix of broth, proteins and vegetables. In the vegetarian form it has tofu, noodles and vegetables. So it is a nutritious and wholesome easy full meal.
Everyone enjoys fresh, crisp and perfectly cooked vegetables. Using green leafy vegetables like bok choy, lettuce, spinach; mushrooms like enoki, king oyster, button and proteins like tofu sheets, pods, fresh tofu, bean curd etc is best.
If you are buying the soup base from the store, read the ingredients. I have not come across any vegetarian brand without MSG. However, the same can be made at home without MSG.
More soups to try
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Instant Pot Vegetarian Hot Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 packet Hot Soup base
- 10-12 mushrooms (assorted)
- ½ block firm tofu
- 2 cups fried tofu pods
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup lettuce
- 2 cups noodles
- 4-5 cloves garlic (minced)
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to 'Sauté' and Normal. Add two cups of water. Also add whole garlic cloves and scallions. Also prepare all the vegetables by washing, draining and chopping as required.
- Then add all the ingredients from the soup base mix to the instant pot base.
- Stir well. Add the remaining four cups water and bring everything to a rolling boil.
- Next add all the proteins and noodles.
- Add the vegetables and let them cook for 7-8 minutes; till the tofu is cooked and noodles are soft.
- As and when the ingredients are cooked; remove using a slotted spoon. Also pour in some soup with a ladle and enjoy with a dipping sauce or topped with minced garlic and scallions.
Video
Notes
- The soup is really like a plain canvas. Flavor it with your favorite add-ins like ginger, scallions, onions, chili etc. This makes the broth great to sip on as well as great to dip the vegetables etc.
- While we stick to a few vegetables and tofu in the recipe; feel free to add udon noodles, bean curd knots, sheets, corn, spinach, Napa cabbage etc.
- Ensure that any ingredient is added only after the hot pot is boiling. Dunking things into lukewarm broth will not cook them well.
- If the soup starts to taste super salty after a couple batches, add some more water to balance the flavors. Let the mix come to a boil before adding any more ingredients to cook.
- Each ingredient has a different time of cooking so add and remove the ingredients accordingly.
- Hot pot is a community activity and it is best enjoyed with family and friends with some delicious drinks.
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